Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: This clause introduces how God will punish Oholibah. Although Oholibah represents Jerusalem, we recommend that translators do not use “Jerusalem” in the text. God’s judgment opens with the traditional prophetic formula Thus says the Lord GOD. Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew).

Behold renders the attention-getting Hebrew particle hinneh. Here it shows that the following words are especially important. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates it “Assuredly.”

I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: God will judge Oholibah by sending all her rejected lovers to surround her and punish her for her sins. The Hebrew verb rendered rouse means “stir up,” “prompt,” or “cause to get up.” Sometimes it can have the sense of “provoke,” so Good News Translation says “make … angry,” but it does not have that sense here. For your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, see the comments on verse 17. In the picture of the girl Oholibah, I will bring them against you from every side means they will stand in a circle around her, but in the historical situation it means that they will “attack you [Jerusalem] from all sides” (New Century Version). This whole sentence may be rendered “I am going to cause the lovers you turned away from to turn against you and surround you.” In some languages it may be desirable to rearrange it so that the sequence of actions is in chronological order; for example, a possible model is “You turned away from your lovers, but I will make them come and stand around you.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .